I think this is my last RCI cruise

[Aquahound]

Entertainment did not exist on Fathom and HAL's is not very good. My priorities are reasonable drink prices and food that is included without extra charges for specialty restaurants or room service. Royal used to have per drink prices comparable to other lines. Thank you for putting it in perspective. Glad there are a variety of options out there. Royal just does not fit what my priorities are anymore.

 

That's a tough one to weigh out. Personally, I think Celebrity has the best free food. However, their drink prices are up there with RCI's.

 

I recommended Princess earlier. They do have lower drink prices, but their free food is average....same quality as RCI. I still think they might be a decent compromise. They're a lot like HAL, but with a little better entertainment.

 

Definitely avoid NCL.

[coaster]

Makes sense that Celebrity has high drink prices as Royal bought them out when they used to be under the wonderful umbrella of Chandris Lines. Still remember the old Britanis under Chandris with over 60 years of service and personally saw her laid in Tampa before she sunk on the way to scrapers. TMI I know. I fell in love with ocean liners after SS Norway cruise in 90's.

 

Anyway, I appreciate the Princess suggestion. NCL has been avoided by me since freestyle and the discontinuation of traditional dining at a set time with the same servers.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

Just one other thing, have you looked at Oceania?

[coaster]

Just one other thing, have you looked at Oceania?

 

Fortunate enough to sail Fathom Adonia to Cuba and Dominican Republic earlier this year which is one of of the older R-class ships Oceania uses now. Azamara has just purchased the Adonia. I am not in the demographic that can afford a cruise on Azamara or Oceania unfortunately.

[valmook]

I was on Carnival Vista last March, while the ship is beautiful, the service was awful. I've been on 18 cruises prior to the Vista and never had such poor service. The wait time for everything was ridiculous. Lines up for the coffee bar, minimum 20-30 in the morning. The line for the comedians started 45-60 minutes before the start time. The specialty lunch restaurants, we couldn't even get in, 1-1 1/2 hr wait. We had to line up to make reservations for dinner. It was so unorganized. Too many people not enough staff. Would never go on the Vista again. On the other hand we've been on Carnival Pride, it was the best service ever. We've also been on RCL, Princess, Disney, and HAL.....I don't remember specific prices of the drinks on the different cruise lines but they seem to be fairly similar.

 

 

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[payitforward]

Thank you for the reply to my post. Grew up in Aquia VA near you in Fredericksburg. I understand onboard charges are increasing, but the magnitude on Royal seems more sudden and larger than the competition. Carnival does not charge extra for room service now from what I understand. I also have heard their per drink prices are lower also. Can a Carnival cruiser please confirm?

 

The free items on Carnival's room service menu are on the first, blue, page. Everything after that is at a cost:

 

https://www.carnival.com/~/media/Images/explore/dining/menus/room-service-menu.pdf

room-service-menu.pdf

[coaster]

The free items on Carnival's room service menu are on the first, blue, page. Everything after that is at a cost:

 

 

 

https://www.carnival.com/~/media/Images/explore/dining/menus/room-service-menu.pdf

 

 

 

Just to compare apples to apples. Grilled reuben sandwiches (a favorite of mine) are free for room service on Carnival?

 

 

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[KuffMUp]

There are lots of products out there. I hated Carnival. May try them again some day. I have a friend that loves them. On X because it is an adults only cruise so we will give them a try. Have been happy with RCCL ships and service. We will see. There has to be something for you out there. Until you move up from mass market, you might not find what you like.

[yuvraj]

I don't use room service so not troubled by charges. In fact I don't like to eat in my room, just a personal thing so this issue is not likely to affect my choices.

 

The drinks prices and driving people to buy packages to save money is an annoyance for me. I would prefer the individual drinks prices to be lower while still making the drinks packages available for those who drink enough to make it worthwhile. It is a question of balance and I would say RCL seem to keep the drinks prices high in order to sell more packages.

 

I often sail with P&O and I find their drinks prices much more reasonable so it is not true that all cruise lines are the same. In my experience, P&O don't push their drinks packages as hard and fewer people buy them.

 

Cost is always a factor but not the only determinant when choosing my next cruise. On balance, I like what RCL offer although I wish some things were better.

[Keith1010]

The good news is when it comes to choice there are lots of cruise lines to choose from.

 

Keith

[nelblu]

If beer price is so important to you above everything else offered, by all means you should examine/cruise other lines that offer cheaper per day drinks. By the way, you sound like a beer lover, how many beers do you consume on a daily basis

[Thetrail]

I am just tired of Royal now. Booked cruise next month before extra charges for room service was implemented.

 

Drink prices are lower on HAL and the defunct Fathom line that had drink prices similar to their parent Carnival. Not interested in drink packages as I don't want to drink an excessive amount to 'get my money's worth'. Only drink beer and it would be a stretch to drink $44 worth a beer a day especially on days the ship is in port. Food is decent on Royal, but no better than the competition.

 

Not trying to be nasty or negative, but I don't understand how Royal charges extra for room service and a higher price for alcoholic drinks than other lines that are in the same mass market segment of the cruise industry.

Because they can and they fill their ships up week after week, month after month and year after year. If you "have" to order room service after all the food you can devour morning, noon and night, well won't go there. Room service is such a non issue and a ridiculous reason NOT to sail on a cruiseline.:rolleyes:

[Ocean Boy]

What are we supposed to say? You posted an OP full of statements. No questions at all. Your title was basically that you're leaving Royal Caribbean. Bye sounds like a perfectly valid response to a stranger coming into somewhere you really like and rattling off a paragraph about why they don't like it and won't be coming back.

 

Like, um, okay, bye?

Sometimes saying nothing at all works just fine.;)

[Husky1987]

Sometimes saying nothing at all works just fine.;)

 

A valuable lesson many OP’s can learn.

[alfaeric]

Don't get disheartened and give up on Royal. The drink prices are totally ridiculous all over the cruise lines, with NCL taking the lead. I have noticed that MSC has the cheapest/most affordable drink prices. I didn't much care for MSC, but I have to give the devil their due where deserved.

Don't say that. If enough people leave, prices will go down.

 

Thanks for telling us that you are leaving, OP. Be kind enough to post your canceled cruises, too- so people can take advantage of your decision. You won't be missed.

[pharaoh]

We order room service maybe 2-3 Times on every cruise. $7.95 doesn’t seem like a lot of money considering you can order anything on the menu and it’s per order, not per person. I know it used to be free so people are upset that they’re being charged, but I noticed on my recent Harmony cruise that the quality of the room service food increased dramatically from our previous experiences on Allure with the “free” room service food.

 

 

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[hgiles]

Just in terms of game theory it makes sense to keep alcohol expensive on cruise ships. It helps keep the number of people excessively inebriated to a lower level.

[Cruisegirl6]

I agree with Pharaoh...its just a few dollars thats all but lets remember, they added so many additional items that you never used to get, so wouldn't one want to pay a few dollars to have more choices on what to choose and eat, and you can order as many items and the cost is still only $7.95.

[Ocean Boy]

I agree with Pharaoh...its just a few dollars thats all but lets remember, they added so many additional items that you never used to get, so wouldn't one want to pay a few dollars to have more choices on what to choose and eat, and you can order as many items and the cost is still only $7.95.

Not if they are choosing the same items that they were previously getting for no extra charge.

[gliles]

[Rala]

Because they can and they fill their ships up week after week, month after month and year after year. If you "have" to order room service after all the food you can devour morning, noon and night, well won't go there. Room service is such a non issue and a ridiculous reason NOT to sail on a cruiseline.:rolleyes:

 

I have to agree with you on the room service issue. I have ordered room service twice in almost 40 cruises and one of those times was a couple of can of ginger ale because I had an upset stomach. However, some folks use room service all the time and evidently, it is important to the OP. I hope he/she finds their niche! :)

[Biker19]

Not trying to be nasty or negative, but I don't understand how Royal charges extra for room service and a higher price for alcoholic drinks than other lines that are in the same mass market segment of the cruise industry.

Because they can and people are willing to pay it.

 

Let's do a bit of math. Assume 3 beers a day at $2 extra compared to competition and room service daily on a 7 day sailing. That adds up to $98 extra. So you would rather go to HAL over something that's less than $100. I think we are well into the diminishing returns area.

[Cruisegirl6]

Ocean Boy- true, if they choosing the items that used to be free, yes, but now they added hot breakfast to the menu which is very nice for those who wish to have breakfast on their balconies and they also offer soups, more salads such as greek salad, chicken tenders, cheesesteak sandwich as well as chicken wings, nachos, quesadillas, chicken fettuccini...honestly, for these items it sure is worth the charge, after all, you paid for the cruise what a few more dollars to get something more than you never gotten before?

[drrich2]

I'm surprised at how big a deal some make out of room service. With all I eat on a cruise, fetching my own chow at least gets me out and about to burn a few more calories, which I need. Seeing how hard working the staff are, and reading others' posts about what sounds like short staffing in some areas, imposing more burden on them when I'm quite capable and need to move around seems a bit distasteful...unless I make it worth their while, whether in a fee or tips or both.

 

With all the complimentary food a ship puts out free for the foraging, is demanding someone go out of their way to hand deliver more food to your room a big deal for a lot of people? If so, is the ship charging for that an affront? Especially if they're added more/better offerings, and since everything must be paid for anyway, if they don't then those who don't use it are subsidizing those who do?

 

I'm not insensitive to the fact some people are mobility-impaired (e.g.: advanced elderly, handicapped), struggle with special circumstances (e.g.: infants or toddlers), etc... And yes, not everyone uses the flow rider, for example, but that might attract more customers to the ship. Is room service as big a draw for filling ships?

 

Richard.

[juju2454]

There are lots of products out there. I hated Carnival. May try them again some day. I have a friend that loves them. On X because it is an adults only cruise so we will give them a try. Have been happy with RCCL ships and service. We will see. There has to be something for you out there. Until you move up from mass market, you might not find what you like.

 

X as in celebrity ? they are not adult only. Took my then 10 and 8 year old grands on one... unless it is specified as adult only(?), they are all family friendly on X.

True Adults Only Ships

 

Your safest bet if you're looking for adult cruises is to sail on a ship that doesn't allow any children onboard at all. Yes, adults only cruises do exist, but there aren't too many. P&O Cruises, a British line, keeps three ships -- Arcadia, Adonia and Oriana -- as adults only. You must be 50-plus to sail with Grand Circle Small Ship Cruises or U.K.-based Saga Holidays (though travel companions can be as young as 40). Voyages to Antiquity cruises are deemed "unsuitable for children under the age of 12," and children younger than 16 are dissuaded from cruising. You might also find lifestyle-based full-ship charters that are kid free (such as cruises for nudists or gay couples).